Hazel Hall
| birth_place =Saint Paul, Minnesota | death_date = May | death_place = Portland, Oregon | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | residence = | nationality = | other_names = | known_for = Poetry | education = public school through 5th grade; home study thereafter | employer = | occupation = Poet, seamstress | religion = | parents =Montgomery and Mary Garland Hall | relatives =Ruth and Lulie (sisters) | signature = | website = | footnotes = }} Hazel Hall (February 7, 1886 - May 11, 1924) was an American poet and seamstress. Life Hall was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, to Montgomery and Mary (Garland) Hall. As a young girl, she moved with her family, including sisters Ruth and Lulie, to Portland, Oregon, where her father managed the express division of the Northern Pacific Railway. After surviving scarlet fever at the age of 12 (or, by some accounts, after being injured in a fall), she used a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Leaving public school in 5th grade because of her paralysis, Hall continued her education by reading widely at home. Favorite authors included Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, and Edna St. Vincent Millay. She began writing at about age 9, and continued writing as a hobby through her teen years. Seeking paid work that could be done at home, she turned to professional sewing, expanding on another of her childhood interests. Stitching bridal robes, baby dresses, and gowns for wealthy families, she worked near a window from which she could watch passers-by on the street. Her writing themes often involved sewing and what she saw from her window. In her 20s, she began writing poetry. In 1916, when she was 30, her 1st published poem appeared in the Boston Evening Transcript, and in 1917 her poetry appeared in The Masses, a New York publication with a national circulation. Eventually she had poems accepted by The Century Magazine, Harper's Magazine, The New Republic, The Nation, Sunset, and many others. She died at home in Portland, "after an illness of some weeks". Writing Reviewer Pearl Andelson of Poetry said of Hall's debut collection, Curtains, in 1922: "Comes Hazel Hall with her little book, every word and emotion of which is poignantly authentic." Recognition Hall's home, located at 106 Northwest 22nd Place in Portland, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Hazel Hall House. In 1995, the Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission erected a small park next to the house. The Oregon Book Award for poetry is jointly named for Hall and fellow Oregon poet William Stafford. The organization that sponsors the awards, Literary Arts, refers to Hall as the "Emily Dickinson of Oregon". Awards * 1920, 1st prize for poems published by Contemporary Verse * 1921, Young Poets' Prize, Poetry magazine Publications Poetry *''Curtains. New York & London: John Lane, 1921. *''Walkers. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1923. *''Cry of Time''. New York: Dutton, 1928. *''Selected Poems'' (edited by Beth Bentley). Boise, ID: Ahsahta Press, 1980. ISBN 978-0-916272-14-2 *''Collected Poems'' (edited by John Witte). Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0-87071-478-8 Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Hazel Hall, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Apr. 30, 2015. See also *List of U.S. poets References * Notes External links ;Poems *"Any Woman" *Hazel Hall profile & 3 poems at the Academy of American Poets *3 poems by Hazel Hall at Ideas on Ideas *Hall in Poetry: A magazine of verse, 1912-1922: "To a Phrase," "Needlework," "Two Sewing," "Instruction," "Three Songs for Sewing," "Cowardice," "Flash" *"Songs of Farewell": 11 poems in Poetry, July 1924 *Hazel Hall at PoemHunter (17 poems) ;Books *Hazel Hall at Amazon.com ;About *Hazel Hall (1886-1924) at the Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission *Hazel Hall (1886-1924) at the Oregon Encyclopedia *"Breathing a Poet's Utterance: Re-reading Hazel Hall", Salem Statesman-Journal, 2014 Category:1886 births Category:1924 deaths Category:20th-century American poets Category:Poets from Oregon Category:American women poets Category:People from Saint Paul, Minnesota Category:Writers from Portland, Oregon Category:American women writers Category:20th-century women writers Category:20th-century poets Category:American poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:Women poets